Day 18: We're Caught in a Spiral...

Today is Day 18 in our 24 Days of Books, and we're feeling a little playful. While we usually speak only of books (the series is, after all, called the 24 Days of Books), today we're going to tell you about something that's a book and an activity, all wrapped up in one package: The Klutz Spiral Draw.

When I was a kid, I used to love to play with my Spirograph, happily making designs for hours. Did you do that too? The geometric drawing toy was first developed by British engineer Denys Fisher. It has been a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc., since that company bought the Denys Fisher company.

Now Klutz has developed a new spin on this classic drawing activity: Spiral Draw. With this kit, you can create one zillion designs. Really. I counted them. The package includes a 48-page book of instructions, inspiration, and wide open space for your own spiral expression; 4 see-through drawing wheels with more than 65 shapes; a spiral draw frame; and one six-color pen (yellow, pink, violet, blue, green, and black, for those of you dying to know).

The Spiral Draw box says it's for ages 8 and up, but I bet they're are plenty of kids older than 8 (my age, for instance, which is plenty older than 8) who would get a big kick out of this box o' fun. And you know how you find yourself at the last minute having to bring a present to a kid's holiday or birthday party? Keep a few of these in the closet for just those occasions. Or need a white elephant gift? (I bet this is the one that people will keep trading to get!) And it's under $20, so it should easily fall under your spending limit.

Klutz was incorporated in 1977 in Palo Alto, California, by three friends from Stanford University: an English major, a business major, and a psychology major. They began by selling sidewalk juggling lessons along with a trio of no-bounce bean bags. "We think people learn best through their hands, nose, feet, mouth and ears. Then their eyes. So we design multi-sensory books," says John Cassidy, the English major. The company's credo is "create wonderful things, be good, have fun." Sounds good to me. Klutz was acquired in 2002 by Scholastic Inc., the largest children's book publisher and distributor in the world.

As always, you'll find many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available in our store. Hope to see you soon!

Day 17: Dancing with Calvin and Hobbes

Welcome to Day 17 of our 24 Days of Books. "Calvin and Hobbes" is unquestionably one of the most popular comic strips of all time -- and definitely one of my favorites. The imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger was first syndicated in 1985 and appeared in more than 2400 newspapers. Bill Watterson, the man behind the strip, retired on January 1, 1996, leaving many ardent followers (including me!) bereft. The entire body of "Calvin and Hobbes" cartoons is now available in four full-color paperback volumes in a sturdy slipcase: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes -- and it's only $100!!

Combining the richly conceived characters and efficient drawing of "Peanuts" with the visual virtuosity and linguistic playfulness of "Pogo" and "Krazy Kat," Watterson applied his intelligence and supple cartoon skills to come up with a creation beloved by millions who still mourn its passing.

As you probably already know, the strip featured a precocious and adventurous six-year-old boy, Calvin, and his sardonic stuffed tiger, Hobbes. Hobbes' dual nature is a defining motif for the strip: to Calvin, Hobbes is a live anthropomorphic tiger, while all the other characters in the cartoon strip see him as an inanimate stuffed toy. But did you know that the pair are named after John Calvin, 16th-century French Reformation theologian, and Thomas Hobbes, a 17th-century English political philosopher? Come to think of it, you probably did.

Bill Watterson was designing grocery ads, a job he detested, when he began devoting his spare time to cartooning, his true love. When asked how autobiographical the series was, he said, "I'd say the fictional and nonfictional aspects were pretty densely interwoven. While Calvin definitely reflects certain aspects of my personality, I never had imaginary animal friends, I generally stayed out of trouble, I did fairly well in school, etc., so the strip is not literally autobiographical. Often I used the strip to talk about things that interested me as an adult, and of course, a lot of Calvin's adventures were drawn simply because I thought the idea was funny. In any given strip, the amount of invention varied. Keep in mind that comic strips are typically written in a certain amount of panic, and I made it all up as I went along. I just wrote what I thought about."

Available for the first time in a paperback boxed set,  this is a treasure sure to create jubilation in all Calvin and Hobbes fans. And really, who isn't?

As always, you'll find many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available in our store. Hope to see you soon!

Day 16: The Gift of Poetry

Welcome to Day 16 in our 24 Days of Books. What a wonderful gift a book of poetry makes; don't you agree? It seems there are always so many good collections from which to choose -- and we are especially blessed with so many lovely poets right in our own backyard. It's so hard to pick from the many wonderful collections at our fingertips, but here's just a few that come to mind.

One of my favorite poets is Mary Oliver, so I'm thrilled that she has a new collection out in time for the holidays. And this isn't the first time I've mentioned in this blog the effect a beautiful cover has on me: a good cover doesn't always make for a good book, of course, but it draws the eye -- and how wonderful to display on your shelf!

In her newest book, A Thousand Mornings, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet once again opens our eyes to the beauty of nature, exploring the mysteries of our daily experience and the transformative power of attention. Whether studying the leaves of a tree or mourning her adored dog, Percy, she is ever patient in her observations and open to the teachings contained in the smallest of moments.

In an interview on NPR, Oliver said that her work has become more spiritual over the years, growing from her love of the poets who came before her and the natural world — but that she feels a great sorrow over humanity's lack of care for that world. "One thing I do know is that poetry, to be understood, must be clear," Oliver adds. "It mustn't be fancy. I have the feeling that a lot of poets writing now... sort of tap dance through it. I always feel that whatever isn't necessary shouldn't be in a poem."

Another wonderful author -- one who fortunately for us lives right here in Portland -- with a new collection of poetry is Ursula K. Le Guin.  Though internationally known and honored for her imaginative fiction, Le Guin started out as a poet, and since 1959 has never ceased to publish poems. Finding My Elegy spans fifty years of work and includes some of the best of her earlier verse along with a rich series of new poems that she has been writing for the last four years.

The seventy selected and seventy-seven new poems consider war and creativity, motherhood, and the natural world -- from the titles of many you can see the influence of place on these poems, such as "At Cannon Beach," "Up the Columbia River," and Mornings in Joseph, Oregon."

And not to sound like a one-trick pony, but what a breathtaking cover. I should add that Ms. Le Guin also has a two-volume collection of short stories just out: The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Land.

This is what The Guardian has to say about her short stories: "A century from now people will still be reading the fantasy stories of Ursula K Le Guin with joy and wonder. Five centuries from now they might ask if their author ever really existed, or if Le Guin was an identity made from the work of many writers rolled into one. A millennium on and her stories will be so familiar, like myths and fairytales today, that only dedicated scholars will ask who wrote them. Such is the fate of the truly great writers, whose stories far outlive their names." 

One of my favorite authors to hear read in person -- whether he's reading poetry, prose, or, I imagine, the telephone book -- is John Daniel, with his sonorous voice and big heart. [I am a HUGE fan of what he laughingly calls his "momoir' and his "popoir": Looking After: A Son's Memoir and Rogue River Journal: A Winter Alone.] His newest book is a collection of poetry: Of Earth. 

His first new collection in eighteen years, Of Earth contains roughly half the poems from each of his two previous collections, Common Ground and All Things Touched by Wind, and a generous selection of newer work. Old or recent, most of these seventy poems were inspired by the landscapes where Daniel has lived or spent lengths of time over the last forty years. 

“I am a spiritual and scientific generalist,” Daniel writes, “intolerant only of fundamentalism in either realm. These poems are products of a kind of nearsighted groping toward forms of truth that can be realized, if at all, only in the process of seeking them. One name for this seeking is imagination, which is not a way of making things unreal but of trying to understand their reality by calling it forth in language. My intent is that each poem should embody its portion of truth in ways accessible to the general reader."

From another "locally owned" but nationally praised poet comes Mayakovsky's Revolver, by Matthew Dickman. At the center of Dickman's new collection is the suicide of his older brother, as the author explores how to persevere in the wake of grief. A book of hauntingly dark enlightenment, these poems take place in quiet moments, the shadows of memories.

Two recently published collections from two highly respected poets we lost in the past few years would make wonderful gifts. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton: 1965-2010 and Adrienne Rich: Later Poems Selected and New: 1971-2012.

 Clifton's landmark volume contains all of her published work and 55 previously unpublished poems, with a foreword by Nobel Prize-winner Toni Morrison. Clifton died on February 13, 2010, at the age of 73.

In addition to her personal selections from twelve volumes of published work, Later Poems Selected and New contains ten powerful new poems, previously uncollected. We lost Ms. Rich in March 2012.

As always, you will find many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available at our store. See you soon!

Day 15: Let's Rock And Roll!

Those of you who follow our 24-day Adventish countdown of books may have noticed that “a book a day” often means “a group of books a day” in our lexicon. We can’t help it: 24 days just isn’t enough time to tell you about our favorites if we can only do one a day. So we're going to push the envelope today, Day 15 in our 24 Days of Books, and tell you about an extraordinary number of new memoirs and biographies this year from musical folks.

Did you make it to the recent  Springsteen concert? Who doesn’t love The Boss? Peter Ames Carlin’s book, Bruce, is the first biography of Bruce Springsteen in twenty-five years to have been written with the cooperation of the man himself. Allowed unprecedented access to the artist as well as his family and band members, Carlin’s assessment of this musical giant shows the human as well as the heroic sides to a very complicated, often controlling, and always passionate figure. Mr. Carlin, formerly a television and music critic for The Oregonian, lives in Portland and we have signed copies on our shelves now (signed by Mr. Carlin, not by Bruce).

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young chronicles his career from his early days with Buffalo Springfield through his solo career and collaborations with Crosby, Stills & Nash, Crazy Horse, and dozens of other notable musicians and groups. He has seen it all, and here he tells it all. Acclaimed for both his musical talent and his artistic integrity,  he has had at least one major hit in every decade since the sixties and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. Known almost as well for his political and philanthropic involvements as his music, he was a cofounder of Farm Aid and an annual fundraising concert for The Bridge School, which assists children with physical and communication impairments.

Mick Jagger is the story of the most notorious and enigmatic rocker of them all, written by a seasoned biographer of such animals. Philip Norman, who previously wrote bios of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Buddy Holly and John Lennon, works his magic here to peel back the layers we all know are there (narcissist, drug and alcohol abuser, archseducer of women) and exposes some suprisingly human qualities and vulnerabilities. We recently learned that the average age of the Rolling Stones is higher than the average age of Supreme Court jurists. Mick is 70. Has he mellowed? Read it and see. If you're really into the Stones, you might also be interested in The Rolling Stones 50.  The only official book celebrating the band's 50th anniversary, this is a coffee table book with more than 1000 illustrations and photographs, as well as Stones memorabilia.

Two years ago, I attended a Portland concert by Leonard Cohen that was part of what we all assumed was his farewell tour. And this year, he was back again, falling to his knees and skipping around the stage as if he were in his twenties! At age 78, this mellow, sage Zen master of song is still taking us along on his oh-so-cool ride, cocked fedora atop his head and mellow voice deepened with age, cigarettes, and experience. Sylvie Simmons recounts his remarkable life and legacy in I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen. From Montreal to the Chelsea Hotel to the monastery to the concert stage, this book tells the definitive account of an extraordinary life.

And as long as we're on the topic of Leonard Cohen, you should check out The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah," by Alan Light. The book offers a fascinating account of the making, remaking, and unlikely popularizing of one of the most played and recorded rock songs in history: Leonard Cohen's beautiful and heartrending song, "Hallelujah."

Who I Am is Pete Townshend’s autobiography. One of the most literary and literate musicians of his time, Mr. Townshend and his band The Who have been called The Voice of a Generation. He thought he would write his story when he was 21, but found himself much too busy. Finally, at age 67, he got it all down on paper. Did you know that he loved The Everly Brothers but thought Elvis was a “drawling dope”? That he is banned for life from Holiday Inns? That he nearly died several times (alcohol, cocaine, and following Keith Moon off a hotel balcony into a pool)? That his favorite job was working as an editor in a respected literary publishing house?  It’s all here, along with every smashed guitar and trashed hotel room.

The John Lennon Letters is a handsome volume that is a perfect gift for fans of the great songwriter/musician/singer/performer/legend. This collection of nearly 300 letters and postcards is edited and annotated by Hunter Davies, whose authorized biography of The Beatles was published to great acclaim. Including hundreds of photos of the actual letters and doodles and drawings, the book also prints the texts along with informative commentary by the editor that puts each piece of correspondence in context and reveals the intimate life of an extremely private man.

The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs is by Michael Feinstein, a performer who has been called the “Ambassador of the Great American Songbook”. Known primarily for his interpretations of songs by such iconic writers as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and especially George and Ira Gershwin, the author worked for Ira for 6 years in his twenties. As caretaker of the Gershwin’s legacy, he offers this reminiscence, including unforgettable stories and memorabilia he’s collected through the years. Each of the 12 chapters highlights a classic Gershwin song, telling what the music meant to them and how it came into being. HUGE BONUS: the book includes a CD that includes Feinstein’s original recordings of all 12 songs (can’t list them all here, my faves are I Got Rhythm, Embraceable You and Someone to Watch Over Me).

Lest you think that only men can be rockers, let us dissuade you from that thought by telling you about a couple of recent memoirs from rocking ladies who just happen to live in our own fair city. Coal to Diamonds, a memoir by Beth Ditto (co-written with Michelle Tea), tells the coming-of-age story of the lead singer for the group Gossip. Mary Beth Ditto was born and raised in Judsonia, Arkansas, a place where indoor plumbing was a luxury, squirrel was a meal, and sex ed was taught during senior year in high school -- long after many girls had gotten pregnant and dropped out. Ditto was a fat, pro-choice, sexually confused choir nerd with a great voice, an eighties perm, and a Kool Aid dye job -- in other words, she didn't blend in. She gave up trying to remake her singing voice into the ethereal wisp she thought it should be and intsead embraced its full, soulful potential. Gossip gave her that chance, and the raw power of her voice won her and Gossip the positive attention they deserve.

And no discussion of musical memoirs would be complete without talking about Crazy Enough, by Storm Large. Although the book came out last year, the paperback version has just recently been released. Storm -- and yes, Storm Large is her real name -- spent most of her childhood visiting her mother in mental institutions and psych wards. It was a hard way to grow up, especially when the doctor told her that her mother's illness was hereditary, but Storm's strength, charisma, and raw musical talent gave her the will to overcome the challenges. As one review says, "We're in complete awe of the blunt, surprisingly memoir...told in honest, poignant prose... [Large shows] all of us how to let go—not without fear and doubt, but with it."  We are also -- and especially -- in awe of her amazing voice.

As always you'll find lots more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available in our store. See you soon!

Day 14: Let's Get Cooking!

On the fourth day of our 24 Days of Books, we told you about some wonderful new cookbooks -- all by area authors! Today, the 14th day, we're going to tell you about a few more, including one by another local author (how blessed are we with local cookbook authors???) who was inadvertently left out last time.

Roots: the Definitive Compendium with More than 225 Recipes (Chronicle, $40), by Diane Morgan

Roots, rhizomes, tubers, corms.  Lotus root, salsify, malanga, crosne.  Diane Morgan is a Portland writer who truly belonged in our local writers cookbook blog.  (What a major oversight on our part!!)  The introduction alone is a celebration of the world of gnarly underground food.  There are 225 recipes arranged by root, with beautiful colored photographs that will change your mind forever about what grows down there under the dirt. Lotus root is a delicate, flower-shaped root that nestles among snow-peas in a stir-fry.  Crosne is a member of the mint family that can go into curried fritters or get pickled to dress up a martini. There is history, lore, and storage tips, as well as availability. (How else would you find a good source of galangal?)

 

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (Knopf, $35), by Deb Perelman.

Simple recipes in a book full of advice from the creator of the award-winning SmittenKitchen blog, this is a collection of chat and ideas on how to be at home in your kitchen.  Starting with peach and sour cream pancakes and including a recipe for broccoli slaw as well as the author’s favorite summer cocktail, this book has everything for the rookie cook as well as the  gourmand:  tips about how many good knives you really need (one),  what kind of salt the word “salt” means,  whether you need one of those cool, long-handled wooden spoons (you don’t), and  how to lose your fear of pizza.

  

Jerusalem: A Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, $35), by Yotam Ottolenghi  & Sami Tamimi

 This lavishly illustrated book celebrates the tradition of Middle – Eastern hospitality that goes back centuries:  food as shared humanity.  There are classics, in reverently traditional form, as well as dishes wherein the authors have allowed themselves a little “poetic license."  Roasted sweet potatoes with fresh figs,  swiss chard fritters, and chicken cooked with clementines and arak,  or with sweet spiced freekeh.   Yeasted cakes, kibbeh, ghraybeh,  mutabbaq.  The recipes are a walk through the cultures of Israel,  Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. This is an important book about not only food and food traditions, but also about  the historic diversity that is Jerusalem.

Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust (Potter, $35), by Ina Garten

Not just a cookbook,  this is a party book!  Food Network star Ina Garten  arranges recipes (with 150 color photographs) by meal:  cocktails (Sidecars with dried cherries!), starters (Crab streudel! Carmelized bacon!), and onward to lamb dishes,  barbecue, pasta, and  seafood  for lunch and dinner, with side trips into vegetables and desserts. She also includes ten foolproof tips for cooking, twelve foolproof tips for tables settings, and a whole section on foolproof menus, planning and shopping -- all in Garten's friendly and reassuring chatty style.

Bouchon Bakery (Artisan, $50), by Thomas Keller.

This magnificent book is about French baking as an act of creation.  Three world-class chefs come together to offer their answers to what they define as the eternal question:  What is your favorite recipe?  Each recipe tells not only how to make one of their amazing pastries or cookies or breads,  but also why it is included,  its history with the author,  its contribution to the skill of the reader:  the slightly stiffer pate a choux dough for éclairs,  the  secret to the creamy center of a peppermint patty, and why you will want a pastry bag with a Wilton 789 tip for your Dutch Crunch Semi-baguettes.  This fabulous book is a commitment to the good life.

Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America (Norton, $45), by Maricel E Presilla

A compendium of not only what foods are involved in Latin American cuisine,  but why, tracing techniques and ingredients from pre-Columbian times. Long before we  get to any of the 500 recipes in this huge book (900 pages!) we are taken into the Latin American kitchen and shown the tools, crafts,  and  the basic flavorings, with everything from How to Crack Open a Coconut to Peppers:  A Short Glossary.  There is also an undoubtedly helpful section on superstitions and lore.  (Pour the lime juice into the dulce con leche in the shape of a cross, and cold water scares the food, although scared yucca softens faster.)   This encyclopedia covers an entire geographic range,  from Mexico to Brazil to Venezuela,  El Salvador and  the Ecuadorian Andes,  and includes how to roast a pig in your back yard. 

As always, you can find many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available in our store. See you soon!

Day 13: And a Wookie to You Too!

Welcome to Day 13 in our 24 Days of Books. It's a gorgeous, sunny day in Portland today, which causes us to look to the sky, which leads us, naturally, to think of all things Star Wars. Surely you have a Star Wars fan in your circle of friends and family. Check out all of the cool Star Wars books we have in the store:

Star Wars Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle. This gorgeous $50 hardcover book is the definitive history of all-things Star Wars, a coffee-table book celebrating four amazing decades of the Star Wars experience. This is truly the book for the Star Wars fans of all ages.

Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded, by Ryder Windham (Dorling Kindersley; $24.99). This oversized hardcover book reveals the story of the amazing Star Wars saga in full detail, covering not just the movies but also the ever-expanding range of books, novels, comics, and media. Packed full of interesting facts about the world of Star Wars merchandise and fandom, astonishing pieces of art, and full-color photographs, this compendium is the key to knowing everything there is to know about the iconic brand that is Star Wars.

Matthew Reinhart is one of the Kings of Pop-Up (capitalizing just felt right), and he shows off all of his skills in this new book: Star Wars: A Galactic Pop-Up Adventure, published by Orchard Books ($36.99). In this explosive, interactive, pop-off-the-page book about the Star Wars franchise, Reinhart has created a new 3-D experience packed with great features such as pop-ups, working light sabers, pull tabs, and other interactive features. The book explores the characters, stories, vehicles, droids, and more -- a stunning book that will impress all fans and provide a whole new perspective to the universe.

 

Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-Folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away..., by Chris Alexander (Workman Publishing; $16.95). This is probably my favorite of the bunch: a book that combines the Star Wars universe with a hands-on activity book -- what could be cooler than that? A front section introduces origami definitions and basic folds. Bound in the back is the book's unique folding paper, two sheets for each figure, enabling users to create ships, droids, weapons, and many many Star Wars characters, such as Boba Fett, Princess Leia, Yoda, and R2-D2. The creations range in difficulty from easy to tricky, and will provide hours of entertainment for the Star Wars followers in your universe.

 

Everything old is new again, right? LEGO seems to be all the rage right now -- again. And the Star Wars franchise has hopped on that wagon too. We've got both the LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia ($18.99) and LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary ($21.99), both from Dorling Kindersley.

Not everything is made of LEGO. We have the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia also from Dorling Kindersley ($16.99). This book is the definitive illustrated guide to Luke Skywalker, Jabba the Hut, and many more favorite characters from the Star Wars galaxy, with stat boxes, expert text, incredible movie stills, and more than 200 profiles. This is book is a must have for Star Wars fans.

 

For the younger Star Wars fans in your world, we have Star Wars 1, 2, 3, a boardbook that uses Star Wars' most popular heroes, villains, vehicles, droids, and aliens to teach fundamental counting skills; and Star Wars: Phonics Boxed Set, which includes ten books and two workbooks that use full-color images of Star Wars characters to teach reading -- particularly good for reluctant readers. 

 

As always, you'll find many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available at our store, and we're always happy to help you find just the right gift. See you soon!

Day 12: Pedal Power!

It's Day 12 (12-12-12!!) in our 24 Days of Books, and today we're going to hop in the saddle! We Portlanders love our bikes. Both local and national publishers have figured this out, so now we have a selection of recent biking-related books that will appeal to the bikers on your shopping list.

OregonCycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Tours in Oregon (Into Action Publications, $17.95) by Ellee Thalheimer, is a guide for adventurous souls who long to hit the Oregon road with their bikes for extended periods of time. This guide features 8 multi-day bike tours in every part of the state, including complete camping and lodging info, 12 breweries, 3 scenic bikeways, and 14 mountain passes. All levels of cycle touring are included, and tours for every season are recommended, as well as tours for every budget. “Cycling Sojourner is like bike touring with a witty fellow bike nerd who is full of enough lively anecdotes to keep you entertained but enough information to keep you from getting lost” – Russ Roca and Laura Crawford

BikingPortland: 55 Rides from the Willamette Valley to Vancouver (The Mountaineers Books, $18.95) is by Owen Wozniak, who has lived and cycled in Portland for ten years. As a project manager at the Trust for Public Land, he works to protect natural places for people to enjoy. This is his third guidebook. The 55 rides outlined in the guide range from the city’s urban core east to the base of Mount Hood, west to the Tualatin Valley and Coast Range foothills, down the Willamette Valley and north across the Columbia River. The rides vary in length from 3 to 56 miles, and in difficulty from easy through moderate to challenging. Each ride is clearly mapped out and described with elevation profiles, mileage logs, public transportation access,

Also published by Into Action Publications, and perhaps our secret favorite book on this list, is Hop in the Saddle ($9.95), a cleverly named guidebook to Portland’s craft beer scene, by bike. This book is also by Elle Thalheimer, with the help of Lucy Burningham and Laura Cary. This little red beauty covers 20 breweries, 8 bottleshops, and 31 bars and restaurants. Each of these beer spots is a local treasure such as Amnesia Brewing, Hair of the Dog, Grain and Gristle, etc. NOT included are the national chain locations, common in every city. There are 5 Portland Beer Routes (and 5 Bike Nerd Extended Routes) to get you to your destinations, with plenty of things to see along the way. Beervana indeed.

Where to Bike Portland (BA Press, $27.95) is by Anne Lee, the Deputy Director of Portland’s Community Cycling Center. This spiral-bound guide outlines 72 great rides, including 26 rides for kids. Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photos and detailed maps, it’s a handsome and useful book whose rides include many in the inner city, but stretch as far afield as Vernonia, Clark County, Wilsonville, and Troutdale. 

75Classic Rides Oregon: The Best Road Biking Routes (The Mountaineers Books, $24.95) by Jim Moore includes routes all over the state varying in length from 3 to 359 miles, including 4 multiday tours and variations for longer or shorter rides, or connections to other routes. Expert advice on preparation, safety on the road, and riding techniques are accompanied by a handy at-a-glance chart to help you select your ideal ride, and downloadable turn-by-turn cue sheets. There are 6 rides on the coast, 13 in the Portland metro area, 11 in the Willamette Valley, 8 in southern Oregon, 11 in the Mount Hood/Columbia Gorge area, 7 in the Cascades, 4 in central Oregon, 11 in eastern Oregon, plus the 4 multiday trips.

Although it’s not a local guidebook, we include Fifty Places to Bike BeforeYou Die (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $24.95) by Chris Santella for two reasons: Chris lives in Portland (in our neighborhood, actually), and it’s a biker’s dream book. Within these pages you will find essays by fifty biking experts, who share the world’s greatest biking destinations. Each essay is accompanied by a beautiful photograph of such exotic locales as Western Tasmania, Costa Rica, Botswana, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, and many more. OK, OK, there are three Oregon destinations: Crater Lake, Chief Joseph Country, and Greater Portland. But this is really an armchair traveler book for bikers who love to imagine biking around the world.

Enjoy your bike and stay safe! Don't forget -- we have many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available in our store. We look forward to seeing you soon!